UF entered Death Valley on Saturday with hopes of knocking LSU from its throne.
Instead, the Tigers only solidified their spot as the kings of college football.
LSU's 28-24 victory against UF prompted The Associated Press to vote the Tigers as the consensus No. 1 on Sunday. LSU (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) also received the vast majority of No. 1 votes in the USA Today Coaches' poll.
With the loss, UF (4-2, 2-2 SEC) dropped from No. 9 and No. 7 to No. 13 and No. 14 in the AP and coaches' polls, respectively.
Although dropping its second consecutive game of the season, UF saw improved and diversified offensive production from players not named Tim Tebow or Percy Harvin.
Running back Kestahn Moore recorded 12 rushes for 79 yards, including the first touchdown of the game. However, the junior's fumble late in the third quarter took away from his earlier performance.
Wide receiver Louis Murphy caught three passes for 26 yards and tight end Cornelius Ingram tallied two receptions for 43 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown.
"I thought the balance between run and pass in the first half was tremendous," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "I thought some guys were making plays, and they were moving the chains against obviously a very good defense."
Even with the offensive production, it's possible that the bye week is arriving at a perfect time for the Gators.
In Meyer's three seasons at UF, the Gators had never experienced back-to-back defeats. Prior to Saturday, the coach hadn't lost two-straight games since 2002, when he was head coach at Bowling Green.
"I made a comment about the soul of a man, and there's some pretty good men on our football team with strong souls," Meyer said. "That's what I found out. I'm glad I did find that out, because the future of Florida football is terrific."
Moore said the Gators will take the bye week to pull together mentally and prepare for their matchup against No. 17 Kentucky on Oct. 20.
Despite the losses, UF's season is far from hopeless.
If the Gators win the remainder of their SEC games, they will play in the conference championship game unless Tennessee also wins all of its remaining conference matches.
"We got this bye week to regroup, and we got to go out there," Moore said. "We feel like we'll see [LSU] … again in Atlanta."
